HumansofVinUni | Prof. Tran Duy Trac: “To Go Far, One Must First Learn to Go Deep” – A Persistent Journey Behind Global Technology Standards

In elite academic circles, conversations often revolve around prestigious rankings and impressive citation metrics. But for Prof. Tran Duy Trac, the journey into electrical engineering and his path to becoming a leading scholar at the renowned Johns Hopkins University began with far simpler things. From a Vietnamese student pursuing the dream of MIT to becoming an IEEE Fellow and one of the scientists contributing to global data compression standards, his story is not one of dramatic leaps, but of steady accumulation, where perseverance and scientific resilience were cultivated through disciplined work day after day.

The “Silent Architect” of the digital age

If modern technologies such as artificial intelligence represent the visible “surface,” then signal and image processing – the field Prof. Tran Duy Trac has devoted himself to -forms the quiet foundation operating behind the scenes.

As he explains, before a system can “understand” data, that data must first be properly organised, represented, filtered, and denoised. In other words, it is the process of transforming raw signals, such as images, audio, or data, into information that can be effectively analysed and utilised.

Although highly theoretical, the challenges within this field are deeply practical. They help eliminate redundancy, preserve essential information, and ensure that data can be stored and transmitted in the most efficient way possible. More importantly, the foundational ideas of signal processing, from correlation and convolution to filtering and multi-resolution representation, have now become indispensable structural components of modern AI systems.

For this reason, signal processing is not the glamorous side of technology, but rather a “silent architect” that designs how data is understood, represented, exchanged, and synthesised to solve increasingly complex problems in the digital world.

Built upon this foundation, Prof. Tran Duy Trac’s research has gradually been integrated into technological standards such as Windows Media Video 9 and JPEG XR. However, he shares that these applications were never the original objective, but rather the natural outcome of pursuing fundamental questions, where value is built through passion and deep understanding of core problems, instead of chasing short-lived achievements or measurable recognition.

When research is a marathon

This foundation-driven mindset also shapes the way Prof. Tran Duy Trac approaches scientific research. Reflecting on his academic journey, from his early years in international research environments to receiving prestigious recognitions such as IEEE Fellow and multiple awards for influential contributions, he believes science has never been about short bursts of brilliance. To him, it is a marathon of persistence, where value lies not in obtaining quick results, but in the ability to pursue a problem long enough to truly understand its essence.

He openly speaks about the importance of “scientific stubbornness”: “Don’t focus too much on the results; focus on the path you take. As long as you are heading in the right direction, with strong companions and enough belief, the results will naturally come.”

In an era where the world is often preoccupied with surface-level metrics, he chooses to stand by fundamental values, believing that sustained personal effort and deep thinking are the true measures of a genuine scientist.

A new chapter at VinUni

As an affiliated faculty member at the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), Prof. Tran Duy Trac shares that he is particularly interested in developing research directions with depth while closely connecting them to real-world Vietnamese challenges.

As Vietnam undergoes rapid technological transformation, he sees many opportunities for signal and data processing methods to contribute directly to critical fields such as healthcare, imaging, environmental science, and information analysis. He believes that globally impactful contributions can begin from the very real and immediate problems surrounding us. By solving challenges that are “real enough, difficult enough, and significant enough” in Vietnam, researchers can not only create solutions for the country but also generate contributions of value to the wider world.

When discussing future directions, Prof. Tran Duy Trac does not emphasise grand or showy ambitions, but instead returns to the fundamental values of science: rigour and carefulness in methodology, persistence and consistency throughout the process, and a spirit of continuous self-improvement every day.

For him, the role of a scientist goes beyond research; it is also about mentorship, guiding students to develop independent thinking and the ability to dive deeply into the essence of problems. What he hopes to build are the “building blocks” of an academic environment where students can actively participate in the creation of knowledge itself. In such an environment, learning is not merely about absorbing existing knowledge, but about learning how to ask questions, experiment, and persist in exploring the kinds of challenges that matter to the world.

And perhaps the most important message he shares can be summed up in one simple sentence: “To go far, one must first learn to go deep.”

In a world where speed is often prioritised above all else, choosing to go deep, to truly understand the essence of a problem and persist in pursuing it, is not only a research methodology but also a way to create sustainable value in science and technology. This is also the core foundation that VinUni’s Master of Science programs are committed to cultivating: a place where young researchers are trained not only to master technical expertise, but also to develop the depth of thinking needed to create solutions that transform reality.